The present invention relates to an apparatus for destacking or removing sheet-like flat goods from a stack such as a stack of cardboard sheets or the like. The invention is especially suitable for cooperation with stamping, cutting or break-out devices.
Flat goods such as paper or cardboard sheets in their already stamped condition or in the initial, unstamped condition, are usually stored and transported in stacks and it becomes frequently necessary to destack such materials for further processing. Such destacking is necessary, for example, for removing individual sheets or layers from a stack and also for the purpose of making partial stacks, whereby each partial stack comprises several individual layers.
It is known to use fork-lifts, for example, for destacking work. However, the insertion of the fork frequently causes damage to the stacked material which is undesirable especially where each sheet of a stack itself is already expensive, for example, such as sheets of panelling and the like. It has been found that the damage results from the fact that the fork or the carrier has a surface which moves relative to the stack portion being removed as the fork or carrier is inserted into the stack.